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6. “The Sixth Age”
As far back as the 1940s and '50s the need for the Society to have its own clubroom had been voiced, but it was not until 1960 that the first permanent premises were found - and christened naturally enough, The Belfry.
The BATS first resting place was a hired room over a fish shop in London Road. From what those who were members at the time say about it, a more unsuitable place to rehearse would have been difficult to imagine. The basic problem was that the floor was distinctly unsafe. Gwyneth Ludkin, who was Secretary in the early sixties, recalls that new members were warned to stay by the wall and avoid the middle of the floor. Denis Brooke and Alan Livermore remember the piano in the room that they didn’t dare move, and also that people were asked not to dance.
Six years later a more convenient clubroom was found, and although a downward move in terms of location, was known as the Belfry for the next fifteen years. It was in fact a cellar below the shop at 1 Collington Mansions, which remained the BATS clubroom until the owner wished to sell the premises and gave the Society notice. No doubt, as it was the Belfry for so many years, older BATS will have fond memories of the times spent there, but it did have its drawbacks. It was reached via the rear of the building and down a steep flight of steps, which were rather difficult sometimes for more elderly members to climb and especially worrying in the winter if any ice formed. The room itself was narrow, with a tiny screened off piece at the far end crammed with items of wardrobe and props. Props also tended to accumulate around the rest of the room. All rehearsals were conducted on the premise that there would be far more room on the De La Warr stage, but this was sometimes difficult to imagine. Whilst rehearsing “You Can’t Take It With You” in 1979, for example, it was necessary to try and remember that some of the twenty strong cast were actually performing at times in a supposedly set-back alcove. During the “Much Ado” rehearsals of 1977, some of the practice for dancing and line-up involved members of the cast being part way up the steps. The place was always rather musty, but not usually so damp as in the year when the flood gates were not adjusted for the torrential rain, and the Belfry and contents (including boxes of costumes packed for return) ended up under several inches of water which had to be pumped out.
During the occupation of this Belfry, Gordon Green started producing sets for the BATS, working in incredibly cramped conditions at Sidley House. Gordon was a leading member of Sidley Players from 1956 until the group folded up with only six members in 1973. During that time, as well as acting and producing, he began to make sets not only for the Sidley group, but also for St Peter’s players and LCB Players. His first set for the BATS was for “Mr Pym Passes By” in 1969, followed by the 1973 “The Merry Wives Of Windsor” in the Gardens, and the highly stylised set designed by Eric Stevens for the 1974 production of “The Rivals”. The BATS had mainly hired professionally produced sets hitherto, but from the 1976 “Flat Spin” all have been produced in “The BATS Workshop under the direction of Gordon Green”. This high-flown phrase meant in practice that Gordon planned the set in his head, mentally putting together a set of flats stored in such a small room that they could hardly be turned round without taking them outside first. He and his helpers did in fact carry out the painting outdoors whenever possible, and when the BATS bought 11' flats it was quite a complicated manoeuvre to accomplish that. Despite the difficulty most sets did in fact fit together with great accuracy, and required only a blending paint job to finish them off.
The expanding Society was well aware of the need to find a permanent home, where the Collington Mansions and Sidley House activities, plus all the other items stored in members’ homes and garages, could be brought together, well before the notice to quit was received. The difficulty was in finding suitable premises, and the search now became a race against time. The Committee were summoned more than once by the Chairman to look at possible premises, only for the high hopes to be dashed because the right terms could not be obtained or we were too late. Finally Colin Hudson, RDC parks and Gardens Manager, suggested that it might be possible to rent a derelict barn at Broadoak Park, if we could undertake the job of making it habitable. The Committee members who wandered round the Granary building found it a veritable palace of delights, with tremendous possibilities. The before and after photographs available in the Granary enable anyone to imagine the excitement generated. The only remaining question was how the money was to be found for a conversion which, even undertaking some of the work ourselves, was likely to cost in the region of £12,000. It was also a time for baited breath until Rother District Council agreed the rental and drew up the terms.
The solution to the money question was an appeal to all members to lend us any capital that could be spared, or to make donations if possible. The response to this appeal by the Chairman was overwhelming. Donations and loans flooded in, and these were sufficient with the savings of the Society itself to put the work that had to be undertaken professionally out to tender. Members began painting a full sized building rather than a stage set, and spending hot summer days pounding bricks collected outside to make a driveable road. And so, many hours of labour later, on 4th July 1981 the Granary Barn was officially declared open by the Chairman of Rother District Council.
No-one rejoiced at the move more than Gordon Green, who now had ample space to store flats, paint them indoors without difficulty, and in most cases to erect the actual set that would be used, for the actors to rehearse with. Probably his favourite set of all, that for the 1978 “Merchant Of Venice”, was actually before the move. This imaginative “reconstruction” of Venice, including a bridge, was conceived and made in the cramped confines of the store at Sidley House, as was another favourite, the first use of scenery bought from the National Theatre in the 1980 “Ring Round The Moon”. But Gordon enjoyed preparing for the 1983 “Owl And The Pussycat”, and the 1983 “Barefoot In The Park”, in the new luxury of the Granary Barn. He also has very fond memories of the beautiful set, actually designed by Mary Batty, for “My Three Angels” in 1977.
The first play of 1974 is indelibly inscribed in Gordon’s memory for a very unusual reason. Playing the walk-on part of a vicar, in “Flat Spin”, his role was to ask Alan Livermore to move his car so that he could drive his own. At the matinee, with furious farcical happenings taking place on stage the doorbell duly rang, but when Alan answered it no vicar was on the doorstep. Alan rapidly improvised on the lines of, “I dunno. This place is a madhouse. Lights flashing on and off, doorbells ringing with nobody there, and I’ve just remembered I’m double parked” and exited. Gordon duly arrived for the matinee at 3.45, one hour late.
Among the parts that Gordon has not played are Charles Condomine in the 1978 “Blithe Spirit”, and Sir Toby Belch in the 1974 “Twelfth Night”. Despite this, he continued to audition for roles which appealed to him, both serious and comic. Among the parts he has played his favourites are Leonato in “Much Ado”; Rainbow in “The Happiest Days”; the speechless delivery man in “Barefoot In The Park”; Professor Bosh (“Owl and the Pussycat”) and the bear in “The Winter’s Tale” (for which the costumiers supplied a badger’s head), But his especial favourite is appropriately Peter Quince in “Midsummer Night’s Dream”, who has the line: “Here’s a marvellous convenient place for our rehearsal”.
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Trap For A Lonely Man, 1971: Eric Stevens, Norman Baxter, Sheila Hawkins, Denis Brooke |
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Cast of the first open-air production, Taming Of The Shrew, Manor Gardens 1972 |
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Flat Spin, 1976: Director and cast |
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Ring Round The Moon, 1980: Hugh Pritchard, Don Mitchell,
Chris Lacey, Catherine Hanlon, Brenda Stevens, Julia Dance, Reg Chapman,
Sheila Harper, Denis Brooke, Dorothy Osborne, Doreen Carter, Eric Stevens |
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